Filed D.C. Superior Court 08/10/2018 19:41PM Clerk of the Court IN THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Civil Division GENET AMARE 3556 Fort Lincoln Drive, NE Washington, DC 20018 Plaintiff v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GOVERNMENT 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Washington, DC 20004 Serve on: Muriel Bowser, DC Mayor 1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004 Karl Racine, DC Attorney General 441 Fourth Street, NW, Suite 630S Washington, DC 20001 and MELINDA BOLLING 1100 4" Street, SW Washington, DC 20024 Defendants a COMPLAINT Civil Action No. Jury Trial Demand Comes now Plaintiff Genet Amare, by and through her attomeys, and files this Complaint against Defendants, the District of Columbia Government and M inda BollingJURISDICTION and VENUE . This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this complaint pursuant to D. Code §.11-921 Venue is proper in this court in that the events giving rise to Plaintiff Amare’s claims occurred here in the District of Columbia and Defendants may be found here. PARTIES Plaintiff Amare is an African American female, a citizen of the United States and a resident of the District of Columbia, She is employed as a FOIA Officer with the District of Columbia Government, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA). Defendant Melinda Bolling is the Director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. Defendant Bolling is being sued in her individual capacity. The District of Columbia Government is a municipal government, All defendants are Plaintiff's employers within the meaning of the District of Columbia Whistleblower Protection Act. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS Plaintiff Amare, a District of Columbia resident and single mother, began employment with DCRA as a FOIA Officer in September 2017, after working as a FOIA Specialist for the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department for five years. At DCRA, Plaintiff Amare worked with Erin Roberts, an African-American female, and reported to the former DCRA General Counsel, Charles Thomas. Mr, Thomas reported to DCRA Director Melinda Bolling. At DCRA, Plaintiff Amare's performance exceeded the expectations for her position6. Shortly after Plaintiff Amare and Ms, Roberts began employment, they were provided limited training on retrieving information from all relevant databases, and they leamed that DCRA had a significant FOIA backlog. In planning sessions to address the backlog, Director Bolling made it known that she was not concerned about strict adherence to the FOIA deadlines or with any lawsuits or appeals which may be filed as a result of FOIA violations. She issued a directive to DCRA division managers, who then disseminated the information to their staff that they were not to aid Plaintiff Amare and Ms, Roberts in the production of FOIA documents; that FOIA officers were to conduct the search, provide the records to a program officer, provide an affidavit for the program officer to sign, and then the FOIA, officers or OGC would compile the information for the requestor. Director Bolling instructed the FOIA officers to attest to methods followed in responding to FOIA requests, which were false. Plaintiff Amare was shocked that Ms. Bolling, who is an attomey, a member of the D.C. Bar, former General Counsel for DCRA, and the Director of the agency would request that FOIA officers make false attestations, and making such false attestations would be unethical and could jeopardize the FOIA officers’ bar licenses. The FOIA officers were concerned that they would be unable to provide the requestor a response because of the Ageney’s lack of support. As a result of the limited training, the significant backlog, and the DCRA Director's decision that other DCRA employees would not assist in responding to FOIA requests, the FOIA officers knew they would be unable to comply with the FOIA requests. 7. The FOIA Officers sought the assistance of former Director for the Office of Open Government for the District, Traci Hughes. Ms. Hughes, who is an attorney herself, knew the implications such actions would have on the officers’ bar licenses. Ms. Hughes wrote an